EmpiricaPinot Gris 2017

Tasting notes

This wine is true to the essence of the Pinot Gris style with aromatics of honeyed pear with sprinkles of mandarin rind and musk lollies. The barrel fermentation of pressings gives a lovely texture to the palate and avoids the ‘oily’ nature of its European counterparts. Made in a dry style, the savoury nature wine is ideally suited to a wide variety of dishes, especially spicy Asian or seafood.

Season notes

2017 was a vintage slow to get out of the blocks. A cool and overcast spring meant slow ripening with amazing fruit flavours and zingy natural acids. Constant rain periods then meant everyone had to be on high alert for fungal diseases and picking was sometimes dictated by incoming rain events. Crop levels were up after perfect flowering conditions, necessitating that some fruit needed to be thinned to maintain intense fruit and high quality. Like 2016, Riesling and Chardonnay were outstanding and the Frankland River reds enormous and juicy.

Winemaking

The fruit was harvested in the cool of night to preserve fruit intensity and minimal delay in processing time. Some pre-pressing cold maceration occurred to maximise mid palate texture. Early separation of free run and pressings (~490L/T) allowed for the delicacy of the variety to be preserved and minimise phenolics. Only free run juice was used for this wine. Fermentation was carried out under temperature controlled conditions (12-14°C) using R-HST yeast to dryness.

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